Iran president to visit Switzerland, Austria for key talks

Press TV- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is to set off on a visit to Switzerland and Austria to discuss ways of improving mutual relations amid the looming imposition of US economic sanctions on Tehran.

Heading a high-ranking politico-economic delegation, Rouhani will leave Tehran for Bern on Monday on the first leg of his tour at the invitation of his Swiss counterpart, Alain Berset, Iranian president’s deputy chief of staff for communications and information, Parviz Esmaeili, said on Sunday.

He added that during his stay in Bern, Rouhani would hold talks with Berset and Iranian nationals residing in Switzerland and said the two countries would sign several documents for bolstering cooperation in various political, economic and cultural sectors.

He noted that the Iranian president would set off for Vienna to meet Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and added that Tehran and Vienna would sign documents for cooperation.

Esmaeili said a number of Iranian economic agents and representatives of private sector would also accompany President Rouhani to hold talks with their Swiss and Austrian trade partners.

US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington was walking away from the nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was reached between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China – plus Germany in 2015.

Trump also said he would reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose “the highest level” of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.

Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.

Since the US president pulled Washington out of the historic nuclear deal, European countries have been scrambling to ensure that Iran gets enough economic benefits to persuade it to stay in the deal.